As a national network, the Sustainable Development Forum opens up new perspectives and initiates processes and activities to encourage sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 2030 in Switzerland

Media (70)

06.06.2017 —
Press release
EDA
On 10 June, the Swiss pavilion will open its doors at Expo 2017 Astana. The first world exhibition to be held in Central Asia is dedicated to the theme of ‘Future Energy’. The Swiss pavilion, organised by Presence Switzerland, showcases Switzerland as an innovative country with an interactive and surprising exhibition on the issues of energy efficiency, renewable energies and global water management.

26.05.2017 —
Press release
EDA
Natural disasters and climate-related risks threaten to reverse hard-won gains in development. These and other challenges were the focal point of the fifth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, which took place from 22 to 26 May 2017 in Cancún, Mexico. At the conference, Switzerland appealed for closer cooperation in the fields of disaster risk reduction, climate change and development cooperation.

09.05.2017 —
Press release
EDA
Expertise, rapid response and good coordination save lives. Five teams from four countries are taking part in a training exercise designed to test their operational capabilities in a simulated emergency following a virtual earthquake. Swiss Humanitarian Aid, part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Swiss Armed Forces are hosting the three-day ACHILLES exercise, which is taking place between 8 and 10 May, mainly in the Swiss Armed Forces training village at Epeisses in the canton of Geneva. Alongside Swiss Rescue, teams from Germany, France and the UK are also taking part.

13.03.2017 —
Press release
EDA
The 61st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will kick off on 13 March 2017 in New York. Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work is the focus of this year’s session. Equal pay will be one of the focal points of Switzerland's efforts during the session. Representing the country is a delegation led by FDFA Secretary General Benno Bättig and Director of the Federal Office for Gender Equality Sylvie Durrer. Together with other partners, Switzerland is launching the Global Equal Pay Coalition, which seeks to eliminate wage inequality by 2030.

19.01.2017 —
Press release
EDA
The first UN World Data Forum was held in Cape Town, South Africa on 15-18 January. It concluded with the presentation of a global action plan in which Switzerland has been actively involved. Switzerland was represented by a mixed delegation from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

18.01.2017 —
Press release
EDA
The Chinese president, XI Jinping, ended his state visit to Switzerland on Wednesday and was seen off by Federal Councillor Alain Berset, the vice president of the Federal Council, in Geneva. Earlier Federal Councillor Berset and President XI Jinping met for informal talks with the new UN secretary general, António Guterres.

12.01.2017 —
Press release
EDA
Today, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter and UN Secretary-General António Guterres held a bilateral meeting on the margins of the UN Cyprus talks in Geneva. During their discussions, they exchanged views on a range of topical issues and reiterated the positive working relationship between Switzerland and the UN.

12.01.2017 —
Press release
EDA
Switzerland welcomes the appointment of Professor Peter Messerli of the University of Bern as co-chair of a panel of experts selected to draft the first Global Sustainable Development Report on the 2030 Agenda. His candidacy as an independent expert was supported by Switzerland.

11.01.2017 —
Press release
EDA
The Federal Council approved the 2016 Foreign Policy Report at its meeting on 11 January 2017. The report gives an overview of Swiss foreign policy and provides an account of Switzerland’s most important foreign policy activities in 2016, in particular in the areas of development cooperation, humanitarian aid and good offices. This year’s report contains a chapter focusing on Switzerland’s efforts to promote peace and development in the crisis regions stretching from Syria to the Sahel.

05.12.2016 —
Press release
EDA
At a meeting in New York today, the UN Security Council will discuss how cooperation between the Geneva-based Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the UN Security Council in New York can be improved in the area of women, peace and security. The initiative for this discussion came from Switzerland, which has made strengthening women's rights a priority and is also committed to forging closer cooperation between the international institutions based in Geneva and those in New York.

10.11.2016 —
Press release
EDA
With the 2030 Agenda the international community has set 17 sustainable development goals, to be achieved by 2030, bringing together poverty eradication and sustainable development under one umbrella for the first time ever. Research and innovation play a key role, both in the design of measures and in achieving these goals. Stakeholders from science, development and politics gathered together to explore the best ways of achieving them at the second Research Fair on 9 November 2016 at the SDC's head office in Bern.

Other news (32)

Gender equality is one of Switzerland's priority areas in its international cooperation. Switzerland believes the private sector has a key role to play in fostering equality. "Smart economics means empowering women, promoting girls and bringing about gender equality". These were the words of Benno Bättig, Secretary General of the FDFA, in his speech opening a panel discussion with business representatives from all over the world. The event on the role of business in achieving gender equality, which was organised by the UN Global Compact and UN Women as a side event at the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), focused on the multiplier effect of women's economic empowerment for sustainable development.

Ambassador Michael Gerber is the special representative of the Federal Council for global sustainable development and represented Switzerland during the intergovernmental negotiations on the 2030 Agenda at the UN. In this interview he explains what the next steps are in terms of implementation and what role the SDC has to play in this.

The 17 goals for sustainable development and 169 targets form the core of the UN's 2030 Agenda. Thomas Gass, speaker at the Annual Swiss Development Cooperation Conference 2016 and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, explains what the Agenda actually means and why it is necessary.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted unanimously in New York in September 2015 at the largest-ever meeting of heads of state and government. This milestone sets out the path for the future and provides the model for sustainable development for the next 15 years.

Are we living in a better world today than we were 15 years ago? In order to cut worldwide poverty in half by 2015 and promote global development, the international community established eight Millennium Development Goals in the year 2000. The deadline has come and gone and it is time to take stock.